This invention relates to wheel cover retention means and, more particularly, to a spring clip retention means having a deflectable member which resiliently engages the radially facing and axially extending flange of the wheel.
Wheel cover retention means are known and have been widely used in the art to maintain the wheel cover in position on the wheel. The retention means typically take the form of clips or bands which are formed with tooth portions for bitingly engaging the radially facing flange of the wheel. The biting teeth engage the wheel flange at a position intermediate the outer wheel rim and the inner safety bead of the wheel. These prior art retention means may take the form of individual clips attached to retaining rings or bands, or may be integrally formed with the retaining rings.
With the advent of high-strength low-allow (HSLA) wheels, however, these prior art retention means have two distinct disadvantages due to the hard surface of the HSLA wheels. First, the retention teeth cannot provide the penetration and biting engagement on the hard surface of the new HSLA wheels as they do on traditional mild steel wheels. That is, HSLA wheels are made of a steel which can be harder than the material of a typical retention clip or retaining ring and efficient biting engagement therefore is not always achieved. The second disadvantage is that since a given automobile manufacturer may use HSLA and mild steel wheels interchangeably, the retention means must accommodate both wheel types. That is, since the outside diameters of interchangeable wheels must be identical and since the HSLA wheels have significantly thinner walls portions, the inside diameters of HSLA wheels are significantly greater than the inside diameters of the corresponding interchangeable mild steel wheels. Thus, a prior art retention clip or retaining ring which is designed for the mild steel would not accommodate the larger inside diameter HSLA wheel as the retention provided would be too loose to retain the wheel cover on the HSLA wheel.
These and other disadvantages are overcome by the present invention wherein there is provided a spring clip retention means having a deflectable portion which resiliently engages a radially facing flange of the wheel. Since the deflectable portion is deflectable from a position greater than the inside diameter of a HSLA wheel and deflectable to a position which is less than the inside diameter of a mild steel wheel, the retention means in accordance with the present invention readily accommodates both of the interchangeable wheels.